Robert Parker's Writing Style Suits His Western Characters
Robert B. Parker, a well-known writer of crime novels, is perhaps best known for his series of novels that chronicle the exploits of private detective Spenser, the character that spawned the ABC television show "Spenser: For Hire" and, later, for his short series based on Jesse Stone, an ex-LAPD detective. But for those who love novels with a Western flair, the Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch novels are the way to go.
While Parker passed away early in 2010, he has left behind a series of four novels that follow Cole and Hitch through their exploits as lawmen and, at times, men who operate outside the context of the law. Perhaps most well-known of the series is "Appaloosa," which was the first series and was made into a major motion picture in 2008 that starred Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Renee Zellweger.
Apparent is all the novels is a minimalist writing style that Parker employs to great effect to describe the bare, dusty existence that was the norm in late 19th Century frontier towns, as well as the amusing yet no-nonsense conversations and musings of his two protagonists, Cole and Hitch. Perhaps lost for those who read the novels merely for the tales of shootouts and the violence of the American West at the time are Parker's treatments of more sensitive issues, including the relationships of men and women, morality and, to be sure, the very meaning of life.
Each novel sees the pair of friends and business partners face a new challenge, and Parker employs a classic, straightforward protagonist/antagonist strategy to present his stories, though without being as trite as is common in the "black and white" world of standard American Western novels and films. The following is a brief overview of each of the four Cole/Hitch novels:
Appaloosa
In this thrilling Western novel, Cole and Hitch first arrive in the town of Appaloosa and find that it is in the grip rancher Randall Bragg, who has ravaged the town and left the marshal dead. Cole and Hitch, who have already served as lawmen in their past, take over in the town and put Bragg on notice that things are going to change.
Resolution
With Everett Hitch alone in Resolution, he's forced to defend the town against various hired guns and never-do-wells, and is relieved to find his friend Virgin Cole back in town when he has to face down a greedy mine owner by the name of Eamon O'Malley. Hitch and Cole impose their will, if not the rule of law, on the town as they attempt to rid it of the scourge.
Brimstone
After their adventures in Resolution, Cole and Hitch find themselves in the town of Brimstone, with Virgil thinking almost constantly of "the one that got away," a woman by the name of Allie French, who was first introduced in "Appaloosa." Allie joins the pair of lawmen in this novel, though she is convinced that a corrupt churchman will help her find salvation in the wake of the indiscretions in which she took part since last she had seen Virgil. The churchman, Brother Percival, turns out to be corrupt, and Everett and Virgil must work to thwart him even as Virgil tries to convince Allie that he is trouble.
Blue-Eyed Devil
When Virgil and Everett return to the town of Appaloosa, they find that a corrupt chief of police, Amos Callico, is running the town and using a cadre of lawmen and deputies to do his dirty work as he seeks to run for governor. Everett and Virgil step in to ensure that Callico's path to political domination is not so easy as he'd like.
